Johnston became intrigued by Yarrow Mamout after viewing two rare portraits of this African American who lived in early Georgetown, and who was painted by Charles Willson Peale and local artist James Alexander Simpson. He discovered that Yarrow arrived in Annapolis on the slave ship, Elijah,on June 4, 1752, and eventually settled in Georgetown as a free man. Johnston follows Yarrow’s son and other descendants in what may be the first time anyone has been able to trace a modern African American family from a specific slave ship, and describes the successes and setbacks of one family and the effect race had on them over a period of 275 years.